Diamonized
by unheardassin
Summary: An unlikely relationship forms between two unbeknownst teenagers. - - Basically my take on what happens between Edd and Marie after junior high. Everything in this is non-cannon, and all character belong to Danny Anntonucci.
1. Chapter 1

The summer sun was casting a final fare-well before the cul-de-sac. What was to follow the next day as the start of the kids sophomore year. As each of the Eds enjoyed their last day of freedom, they eventually drifted into the realm of dreams, pondering how the next day was to play out.

6:00 am, the alarm goes off in Double Dee's house. As he wakes up from his daze, he begins to ready himself for his morning rituals as par the normal school day. He gathered cloths as he prepared to wash, and shave the unsightly chin stubble that found its way onto his chin the previous nights. Edd was not one for facial hair, and made an effort to keep his face as smooth as possible. After a quick shower, he dressed in the usual attire of a brownish-red cardigan, dark blue jeans, and of course, his trademark Ski-hat.

After dressing, he decided it was high time to make breakfast, and made for the ingredients cabinet. He had decided on a quick omelet this morning and prepared the ingredients accordingly. A few close calls with the burner later, he was feasting on his own omelet. Before heading out the door, he double checked for blemishes and wrinkles on his cloths, made sure his hair was straight, and finally grabbed his keys.

Not long after, he found himself in his esteemed Honda Civic. Although not as passionate as some over his car, he was a proud owner, as it had good gas efficiency, and thus was more kind to the environment. Just an hour after he awoke, and a quick turn of the key, he was off to his friends' houses.

He knew his friends would be relying on him for a ride, as he was the only one of the trio to retain his license. Eddy had a bad temperament behind the wheel, and got charged with wreck less driving. Ed simply never took the test. But of course, Double Dee still had possession over his. Even then, he was only one of four in the neighborhood to be in possession of a working car. Rolf was still driving his tractor to school, without a permit of course. Kevin's dad had eventually succumbed to his whining and, _regrettably,_ financed him a Harley Davidson bike. The last to own a car was none other than Lee Kanker. She drove an old Toyota to and from school, with her sisters latching on of course.

After a quick check of his blindspots Double Dee flipped the gear into R and backed out of his drive way, already coming into view of Ed and Eddy. When he switched gears and went alongside them, he was greeted by a happily confused Ed and a frustrated Eddy.

"But then do where do eggs come from Eddy?" ask a baffled Ed.

"I told ya Lumpy, the come out of their moms' va-hey! It's Sock-head!"

"Hello to you too, Eddy." Double Dee replied sarcastically.

"Oh man, we're gonna get all the chicks cruising in this hot rod!" exclaimed an excited Eddy.

"We're getting baby chickens?!" asked a classically confused Ed.

"While we could 'pick up some chicks', I'd much rather not be tardy for our first day of tenth grade." said Double Dee.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. C'mon Ed." replied a grumbling Eddy.

The ride was awkwardly quiet, aside from Ed's occasional laughing. Double Dee decided to break the silence with a question;

"Would you gentlemen like some breakfast?"

"But I don't have any money Double Dee!" exasperated a desperate Ed.

"I would be happy to buy you some breakfast, you too Eddy." Double Dee replied, smiling.

"As much as I like getting free stuff, I'll have ta' turn you down Sock-head. My diet says so." replied an oddly calm Eddy.

"A diet? Whatever for?" poised Double Dee.

"Well, I've hit a bit of a growth spurt ya see, and I figure the dames want some bulk to look at while they're staring at me." responded Eddy while winking in the mirror.

"Well, I'm happy that you've decided to start a new healthy lifestyle, Eddy. I'd be happy to provide you with some of my healthy living books." said Double Dee.

"Thanks, but no thanks. My dad has me on his old protein diet. He's a legend at Peach Creek ya' know? Best running back 87-91 I tell ya." boasted Eddy.

"Even if that is….questionable, I still bid you good luck." said Double Dee.

After a few corny jokes, they arrived at _Burger King_ and got some food. The rest of the ride was relatively silent, again, being interrupted by Ed's gurgling of gravy.

"Alright gentlemen, now I just have to check what my designated parking spot i-" he dropped mid-sentence as he read the number. He crept through the parking lot until he reached spot #69.

"Sixty-nine?!" exclaimed a laughing Eddy.

"I don't get it…"said Ed in his usual dopey tone.

"Ha ha, laugh it up Eddy. You'll have to grow up someday." The last part was mumbled.

"Well, that ain't today." said Eddy while brushing his nose.

"Anyways, are you two ready for our first day of tenth grade?" questioned an excited Double Dee.

They exchanged their no's.

"Well, let's start this train wreck." grumbled Eddy.

As they were preparing to depart, they heard the unpleasant sund of muffler-less car approach. As the obnoxious joyrider pulled alongside them they realize it was none other than Lee Kanker.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh no…" mumbled Eddy as the sister left their vehicle.

"Hubba hubba, our men got prettied up for us today!" Lee pronounced in her usual grumbling accent.

"N-now girls, don't you think you could look the other way? If only for this morning, we wouldn't want to be late." pleaded a trembling Double Dee.

"Calm down their scamp, we'll have plenty of time for smoochin' later." Lee responded while eyeing Eddy with a predatory like gaze.

With the crisis averted, Double Dee took notice of his personal tormentors' absence. He weighed in his head whether or not to inquire on it, and decided on the former.

"Um, Lee?" stammered a cautious Double Dee.

"What do ya want gappy?" Lee replied, insulting his tooth gap.

"I've noticed that your sister, Marie is it, isn't present?" said a suddenly confident Double Dee.

"Awww Double Dee misses his girlfriend!" Lee mocked, forming a heart with her hands. "No, but seriously, she said somethin' about riding her bike to school I think. If you really care so much, check the shop." She revealed in an oddly direct manner, for Lee anyways.

Double Dee was taken aback by her insults, and a small blush had formed on his cheeks. He quickly brushed that aside when they walked off toward the school.

"Geez Sock-head, why'd ya give a damn about Marie anyways?" inquired Eddy.

"I was simply asking if she was here or not, I am chairperson of absentees, you know." defended Double Dee.

"Whatever ya say Edd." Eddy said, oddly calling him by his first name.

While the boys were beginning their walk to the entrance, Marie had just arrived in the back lot where the shop door was. She had been a star-student in the 'Foundations of Technology' classes, and done equally as well in the shop and auto classes. Her normal appear post-eighth grade had been a black tank top overlaid with an olive green, form fitting half-jacket. She wore the same material pants, only they were a slightly darker color. Her entire outfit was topped with a rustic, seemingly well aged necklace with an emblem of a double coursed cog. She had retained the same 'punk' style over the years, even crowned with the same blue hair.

By the time she had arrived, it was five minutes before the late bell. Before she could get her academic day started, she would have to check on the machinery, as she did all summer out of boredom. Once everything was in check, she headed to her locker; #65. After which she would pick up her class and lunch schedules. She had hoped that this semester would almost solely be dedicated to Art II and Shop III, but she knew she wouldn't get that lucky.

As she was walking to the counselors office to get her schedule, she turned a corner and bumped into the lankiest member of the Eds; Double Dee. Nearly instantaneously after the collision, Edd was on his feet, scurrying to pick up all of his school papers and helping Marie up before realizing who it was. As soon as she looked up and met his gaze, he was in a catatonic state of terror. What could she have planned for him in this empty hallway? Will she humiliate him on the first day? Could the luck from the earlier confrontation with the Kankers still hold true?

"Hey, watch it!" Marie shouted as he tried to help her up.

"M-marie! I'm sorry if the collision caused you any harm, but I uh.. I must get going if I want to keep on schedule." stammered Double Dee.

Just before Edd could scuttle off, Marie grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Now wait just a minute mister, you really think I'd let you get away that easily?" Marie said to a trembling Edd. "The toll for bumping into me will be….hmm…one kiss on the cheek! Pucker up, rose bud!" she exerted before giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

After the confrontation, Marie swaggered off to retrieve her schedule, which left Edd on the floor of the freshly polished hallway floor. As he came to his senses, he, again, gathered his fallen possessions and went to a nearby sink to wash away the salvia of the sixteen year old menace.

After a quick wash, he made his way to his first block class; English II. Edd had always excelled in the grammatical side of English, but not so much the creative side. Although he more than made of for his lack in creativity with raw genius and proofreading.

As he took his seat in the front row of classroom, he took the essentials for writing out of his backpack, including his rarely seen reading glasses. At the same time as he was readying for the course ahead, the door slammed open moment before the late bell to reveal Marie Kanker had the same class as Edd. He internally screamed, half in anger and half in fear. Although his outside demeanor didn't showcase this at all.

Marie's entrance did merit her some tossed stares, of which she was more than happy to return with a snarl. As she was surveying the room for an optimal seat, she noticed all the back seats were taken by the local skating crowd, a majority of the middle rows were occupied by the football and cheerleading kids, and the front row had one lone nerdy teenager; Double Dee. The same predatory grin her sister performed earlier accompanied her face as she saw his silent fear while he was staring at her. She then noticed the only non-front row seat was right behind her beloved. She was more than happy to occupy said seat.

Double Dee had almost lost his composure, but luckily had enough social training in ninth grade to refrain from an awkward outburst of hyperventilating and sweat. Up until Marie had begun her strut to Edd's row, and plopped down behind him. After she sat down, he felt the air around the back of his head move, and prepared for a whisper.

"We're gonna have a lot of fun, Double Dee." Marie whispered in a sultry voice before bursting out in a giggle fit.

Double Dee didn't really have anything to say by this point, and just stayed quiet, accepting his fate. After that, the class crept by with many of ' rants on grammar and the occasional smart-ass remark from Kevin.

After first block had ended, Double Dee made his way to his next block, which just so happened to be lunch. Double Dee had always hated eating lunch so early, as it had only been two hours since he ate breakfast, and felt he was putting too much on his metabolism. After that thought, he realized that since the English wing had first lunch, that he wouldn't have any friends in the same period, as Ed and Eddy both landed in a US Government class. Despite this, and with a loathing sigh, Double Dee prepared for a forty-five minute study session. That is, until an equally bad thought knocked on his head; he would be sharing the same lunch with Marie, and from the looks of it, none of her friends (or rather sisters) were in the same lunch. It would just be him and her, with no possible means of distraction.

Soon after, he arrived at the lunch room. They were serving fried chicken with a side item of creamed corn. Being the health enthusiast he is, he packed a peanut butter and celery sandwich, with a side of sugar-free caramel in case he got a sweet tooth.

As he was preparing to open his lunch bag, he heard shouting coming from the girls bathroom. He debated if it was his place as a student to investigate, and eventually decided that his standing as a Good Samaritan out-weighed his place as a pupil, and went to see what was causing the ruckus. The closer he got, the louder the laughing, and what would appear to be crying got. What he saw when he went into the bathroom absolutely shocked him.

Authors' notes:

Hello people of Fanfiction! I'm sorry if these updates are short, I'm not really the best writer, nor do I really have any of this pre-planned. I got a message asking me about the ages of everyone, and assuming that the Eds were 12-13 at the end of the show, I assume that they were in 7th grade. So my age system goes as such:

Ed:17

Edd:16 (6 months younger than Edd)

Eddy: 16 (4 months younger than Edd)

Any and all reviews are extremely welcome, and I'm super sorry if I can't update a whole lot what with school and other things.

~unheardassin


	3. Chapter 3

What Double Dee had walked in on was enough to send shivers down his spine. It would appear to be a handful of the cheerleaders (or 'in' crowd) spreading make-up at random across Maries' little sisters' face. Her face was essentially a moshpit of combating hues of lipsticks, eyeliner, and foundation. After regaining his composer, and getting the shrieks out of the youngest sister out of his mind, he decided to intervene.

"Just what do you think you're doing?! Let her go this instant!" Edd demanded, forcing the leader of the group to let go of her hair.

"Ohhh but we're just making this freak pretty! What are you even doing in this bathroom loser?" the leader, or Jessica, replied.

Jessica was a newer student who lived in the central melopolitan area of Peach Creek. She was born from a well off family, and was a star cheerleader. Just two months after moving to Peach Creek, she replaced the much friendlier Nazz on the cheerleading team. She was a rather tall girl; she had layered brown hair and wore various school spirit shirts, skin tight bell bottoms, and ugg-boots on most days. Essentially the definition of "popular chick".

"What you're doing isn't human! Look how terrified she is! Do you not see what you're doing?!" Edd replied with a tone similar to an angry father.

"Okay geez, she's not worth our time anyways. Come on girls, we have routines to drill." Jessica said snapping her fingers to her cliché.

Double Dee went over to the sniveling blonde girl to help her up.

"Well, I suggest you wash your face bef-" he was caught off guard by a spontaneous hug.

"Thank-you Double Dee, I don't know what I would have done!" shrieked May in her usual squealing voice.

"Well, I was just performing my duty as a fellow student to stop bullying." he said as she was washing her face. "What's your next class?" he poised.

"Study hall, but I think I need to find one of my sisters." May responded.

"I can assure you that Marie is in the lunch room, maybe you could go talk to her." Edd suggested, smiling a bit for coming up with a good scape goat.

"I think I'll do that, thanks Double Dee!" she exclaimed.

With a goodbye, Edd made his way to the lunch room to find almost all of the seats had been taken. He finally settled with sitting on the end of the table closest to the lunch room exit. After a few moments of relative peace, he was shaken out of his studying daze with a load bang on the table. He looked up to find Marie Kanker had dropped her book bag on the seat in front of him.

"Why h-hello Marie. Can I help you with something?" Edd stammered.

"May told me what you did for her, and I just wanted to say thankyou for standing up for her. I know not many people aside from my sisters and I would have." Marie replied in an unusually sincere voice.

Double Dee was caught off guard a bit by her grammar. He was so used to hearing random utterings and misused pronouns when listening to her.

"It really was no issue, Marie. I was just doing my civil du-" he was once again cut off, only this time with a finger to the lips.

"Just accept the thank you, pumpkin." Marie whispered in a more than sultry voice.

Double Dee whimpered as she grabbed his collar and pulled him in. He was expecting the usual sloppy kiss, but instead was met with a soft, gentle peck on the cheek. And even more surprisingly, he didn't even feel like washing his face after wards.

"I'll see you in third block." Marie said on a high note as she began to walk off towards the shop.

Double Dee continued his lunch as usual, only thinking of the little intervention he had with the blue-haired Kanker.

Marie had just left the lunch room for the shop. About halfway towards the shop, she decided to pay the gym room a visit to see about this 'Jessica' who had tormented her sister. When she opened the door for the gym, she was greeted with the domineering voice of the captain yelling at her squad-mates.

"Mimi! What did I say about bending your knees that far? C'mon! Our first practice is tomorrow!" Jessica practically shrieked through a megaphone.

Marie had at this point reached their position, and placed a tap on Jessica's shoulder.

"What do you want? Can't you see we're practicing here?" Jessica interrogated.

"What the hell do you think you were doing to my sister in the bathroom? You think you're cool picking on the only one of us who won't fight back?" Marie shot back.

"No, we just had an anonymous agreement that your…_sister_ needed a makeover." Jessica replied with snort.

"Oh, you'll get yours, sister." Marie hissed with a pointing finger at Jessica.

With that, Marie walked away from a visibly catatonic Jessica. Everyone, by this point, had learned that it was not wise to mess with the Kankers. It wasn't Marie they feared necessarily, but the wrath of her big sister; Lee. Jessica would soon realize the error of her choice.

After that bit of business was out of the way, Marie found her way into the shop, and although she loved metal working, she couldn't stay focused as the thought of Double Dee coming to the rescue of her sister repeated itself in her head. She had known Double Dee to be a sort of chivalrous man at times, but actually intervening and _stopping_ an act of bullying is something of triumph in her eyes. To her, it just made Double Dee even more lovable. And love she did. What would appear to be just a girl chase boy crush was actually a deeply romantic vision of Maries'. She had long given up the hope of Edd returning the feelings, or even befriending her, but maybe if she appealed to his softer side, and stopped terrifying him she could win him over. Although she does enjoy chasing him down and kissing him, she regrets her and her sister's first impressions on the Eds. Maybe if she wouldn't have had such a bad first impression they would be friends. As the thoughts corroded her mind, she managed to cut herself on a metal grinder.

"Ow! Dammit!" she exclaimed as she kicked the machine. "That _really_ hurt…" she whimpered.

By this time, lunch had ended. She decided to head to the nurses and get a bandage for the rather deep seated cut in her hand. Little did she know that Edd's second block was that of an office assistant, and would be seeing him instead of the aging school nurse.

"Hello again Marie, what can I help you with?" asked Double Dee with enthusiasm, knowing she couldn't pull any stunts this close to the office.

"Double Dee..?" she mused aloud, a bit surprised to see Edd in a nurse outfit. "Well, I cut my palm on a metal grinder." she said while presenting her palm to Edd.

"My, you really did manage to cut yourself." He thought aloud as he examined the wound.

He gathered some gauss and bandaged her hand with caution, as to not aggravate the wound further. As he was wrapping her hand, he couldn't help but notice how soft her pale skin was. He reveled in the fact that he kind of like to hold her hand, and quickly dismissed the thought. Soon after he was done wrapping, and gave her the green light to leave.

As he was about to dismiss her, the second block dismissal bell rang, signaling the students to move onto their third block, of which Edd shared with Marie.

"Hey Double Dee?" Marie said a bit high pitched.

"Yes Marie?" Edd responded whilst taking off his apron and gloves.

"Could you walk me to Ancient History? Since we both have it?" she asked while haplessly kicking her legs back and forth.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt anything to accompany you." Edd mused.

"Alright, just try not to make me look bad catnip." Marie replied with her trademark smirk and a hand across Edd's chin.

As Edd was cleaning up ad getting his supplies ready for next block, he had time to think about how the day had been treating him, weighed his odds, and decided it wouldn't hurt anyone for him to accompany Marie to History.

Or would it?

-Authors Notes-

Spoiler: It won't.

Also, sorry I had to name a character not from the original show, the thought came to me last night in bed, and I decided Nazz would never do that, she's too nice. Let it be known that Jessica won't be an integral piece of the story either, so no worries.

PS: Thinks might get mushy soon, I might hurl just from writing it!

As always, feel free to write a review, all the feedback I can get helps. Thankyou for reading, and hav a grand day


	4. Chapter 4

The walk was not a long one. Nary had a word been spoken by the time they reached 's history class, the room was still mostly vacant. Edd, being the studious guy he is took a seat closest to the board, as to not miss any notes. Marie having mostly free reign over where she could sit decided on sitting in the back, as usual. It wasn't long before the mish-mashed jumble of students piled into the room, disrupting the relative peace with tales of their summer. As Edd was losing hope that he'd have another block with no one to chat with, he witnessed a familiar grinning face. The dopey face was of course, Ed. As he was walking in, he began flailing his arms in Double Dee's direction, as if to signal him for the inbound meeting. Soon after, he sat down beside Double Dee and began telling him about his day.

"….and then, in lunch, Kevin said he didn't want his pudding skins, so he gave them to me Double Dee!" Ed told Double Dee.

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying your schedule so far Ed, I only hope Eddy is fairing the same." Double Dee said while preparing his pencil to take roll call.

"Oh! I saw him in the hallways. He was saying bad words." Ed informed, as if his parents were listening.

Double Dee let out a sigh. "Well, his day can't be _all_ that bad."

Just as Ed was about to reply, MrsBreeden entered the room, and requested for the roll sheet from Double Dee. This classroom had no more variety than Edd's English class, made up of many different cliques and groups. Although he did notice a distinct lack of students from his own grade, leaving only him, Johnny, and Ed. It appeared as if the majority were made up of class repeats, which did trouble Ed, seeing as he was generally in all AP classes. It wouldn't discourage him from giving the class his all as usual, but since Ed was in there with him, he would probably be doing work for two, or at very least help Ed out.

The clock struck 1:45 p.m. and it was time for the students of Peach Creek High to swap to their fourth and final class of the day. For Edd, this happened to be computer applications. Edd had always been incredibly gifted with book learning, and appeared to have a bright future as an inventor, but computers had never been his focal point. He knew the basics, how to check the memory, install drivers, maybe exchange a case fan or two, but never had the drive to learn everything about a computer inside an out. He figured he might as well take this course if only to become more familiar with the subject. After saying their goodbyes, he and Ed parted ways to their next classes respectively.

Edd took the closest seat to the front as usual, and began to take roll. After that was done, he observed the room around him. What he found was an almost complete lack of students. The only ones he could name were he, Nazz, and oddly enough Rolf. The other _four_ students were freshmen that he didn't care to catch names, even after taking roll. Unsurprisingly, the students who knew each other bunched up, leaving him with the popular ex-cheerleader Nazz, and the loveable foreigner Rolf.

"I trust you have much knowledge about the contraption in front of Rolf, Head-full-of-brains Edboy?" Rolf said in his rather high pitched foreign tongue.

"I'm not the best to run a computer system, no, but I will be happy to assist you in any way I can." Edd responded cheerfully with a smile.

"So like, how do I turn it on?" Nazz asked while examining the computer case.

Edd reached over her and pressed the conveniently hidden power button.

"Thanks dude, I'm so used to the power button being on the front of the thingy." Nazz said without confidence.

"I can assure you it was of minimal effort on my part." replied a smiling Double Dee.

Before the friendly conversation could continue, their tech teacher, , entered the room. At first he came off as threatening, judging by his appearance he was the 'no nonsense' kind of teacher. But soon after he took a seat in his chair and re-adjusted his button-up shirt to a more comfortable arrangement, and said that the kids could do whatever until 3 p.m. hit, any form of fear Edd had had dissipated.

The rest of the class period went on like that. There wasn't much conversation between the three aside from the occasional rambling from Rolf about 'dumb technology. Nazz had opted to spend her time on Amazon looking at new perfumes, and Edd decided to read a few chapters ahead for his history class. The class passed rather peacefully.

By three, the dismissal bell had ringed, and the kids had completed their first day of sophomore year. On the way to his locker, Edd had time to think about how the day had treated him. It had been…interesting, but not bad. He only hoped the remainder of the year would flow by without any more conflict.

After putting up the supplies he no longer needed, he made his way to the parking lot and waited for his friends. It was roughly five minutes before Ed and Eddy arrived, in time for him to hear Eddy complaining of course.

"I just don't see the point in stupid geometry! Not like I wanna be a fuckin' engine-rear or whatever he said." grumbled and obviously upset Eddy.

"Do you kiss your Christmas tree with that mouth mister?" interrogated Ed.

"Oh shut-it Lumpy. Hey Sock head, we ready to go or what?" Eddy said, dismissing Ed's question.

"All ready for launch, Eddy." responded Edd.

"Good, I'm tired of this shit hole." replied an unamused Eddy.

"Come now, Eddy, I'm sure it wasn't _that _bad. You had to have at least learned something." Double Dee said matter-o-factly.

"The only thing I learned is how much I hate frickin' triangles. Can we go home now _mom?" _Eddy said with a small chuckle.

"I suppose." Edd said with a sigh.

The ride remained predominately quiet through town. They had reached the inlet for the cul-de-sac when Eddy poised a question:

"So what are we doin' this weekend?"

"Why, whatever do you mean?" Double Dee said with a raise of his eyebrow.

"We gotta full time escort buddy boy, we should go find a cool new hangout and get some chicks. I don't know about you, but I'm _sick of the filthiness of the junkyard_." the last part he said imitating Double Dee.

"I'll see what work permits." Double Dee answered referring to his weekend job of cleaning windows in town.

"Well alright, good to have you on my side for once Sock head. Whelp, time to go, I'll seeya tomorrow Double Dee.

"Goodbye fellows, I hope you gentlemen have a wonderful evening." he waved as the two teenagers left his car.

Not a minute later he was pulling into his allotted parking spot in his residence. He made his way inside, and decided on some rest and relaxation after a long, _boring _day. He was about to get sit down with a bowl of salad when he heard a ring at the door.

-Author's Notes-

DUNDUNDUN who could it be?

Also, sorry if this one feels rushed. I really wrote it quickly. I'll go back and revise it later.

Another side note; don't expect a chapter every day anymore. It's looking like a long couple weeks of school, but the next chapter should be on here by at least the next weekend. As always, thankyou for reading and reviews are highly encouraged. Goo-DAMMIT MORE THINGS TO SAY. Okay, yes. Uh, sorry for not much of Marie this chapter, it was, as I said, rushed. And for those who don't know it, I plan on trying to make this fic moderately long, even though the chapters aren't too lengthy so far. So the whole "romance" parts won't come for a bit. Anywho, this is unheardassin signing off.


	5. Chapter 5

When Edd arrived at the foot of his door, he pondered who it could be. Unsurprisingly, Ed and Eddy were sporadically banging on his door.

"May I help you two?" asked Edd.

"What's the deal with his stupid Geometry homework anyways? Can ya help us sock head, we're lost?"

"I suppose I co-" Edd began.

"I told ya' he'd say yes! Just make sure to give it back before third block tomorrow, alright?" interrupted Eddy.

Before Edd could respond, the door slammed. He found himself holding his compadres homework, and decided it best to just do it and not cause a fuss. He wasted no time getting his best pencil and sat in the desk within his room and began doing basic geometric problems.

The day had been relatively boring on Maries' end as well. Aside from the few bump in's Double Dee, and the case with May, nothing had happened really. She pondered about how May was haplessly bullied, and wondered if she was always like that. She knew her sister to be a bit insecure when it came to looks, but always figured she'd turn out tough as nails like Lee, at least basing off her attitude at home. She could have just been caught with her pants down, so to speak. Maybe it was a one off occurrence. She hadn't got much of a story from May when she ran up to her during lunch, squealing with joy and crying at the same time. She decided to ask her about it when she got home from tutoring.

When the bell finally rang at Peach Creek High, Marie opted to ride her bike home instead of riding with Lee. She loved her sister, but also loved the peace and relative quiet of isolation. She had always thought of herself as the most individualistic of the Kankers. You had Lee, and while she is a lot smarter than she comes off as, is lazy as a cow and loves to boss her sisters around, and May who is as sweet as a honey suckle sometimes, but most of the time a vulgar follower of Lee. Marie decided long ago that she was the best to do off on her own if it came down to it, and embraced her individuality with pride, as if the blue hair wasn't enough.

Speaking of her hair, blue wasn't her natural hair color, such as it is with Rolf. Her actual hair color was an intensely dark brown, almost black. She dyed her hair some time before moving to the Park'n'Flush, and often regretted it. She often wished to stop dyeing it, but thought of how odd she would look with half brown, half blue hair for a little while. She eventually just settled with keeping it blue, maybe she'd dye it back the coming summer.

The thoughts of summer flourished her while she peddled through Peach Creek commons. She had occupied most of her time working at the local record store, _Music for a Song_. She had absolutely loved the job, but couldn't stay throughout school for obvious reasons. She had managed to save up a good amount to live on, blanketing on four-thousand dollars in the bank. She missed the easy days of summer, the warm breeze, and the late nights with her sisters near the local swimming hole. And although she longed for freedom once more, she embraced the coming of fall, her favorite month.

On the way home, just as she passed the trail way to the trailer park, she opted to go to the creek and fill her diary with her days' memories. The spring before, she started hiding her journals in a local hideaway spot beside the creek, as she had next to no privacy in her trailer. When she reached the creek, she flipped out her aged iPod and tuned into some _Billy Talent_, immersing herself within her thought.

After Edd finished up the geometry homework, he decided it was late enough to make some dinner. It was, after all, 5:30pm. He had decided on macaroni, and began boiling the water soon after. Edd was an exceptionally good cook, but you'd never see the lad admit to it. Not too long of a wait later, he had a steaming bowl of macaroni and went to his computer to looks up some things on Amazon. As he sat scrolling through the pages, he began to think of his parents, or more so, their absence. They've never been around much, but he understood why. His mom was always overseas on medical trips with her research group, and his dad was always either in inner-city Peach Creek, or various other cities during business trips. After Edd had reached the age to responsibly own a phone, they stopped leaving him silly sticky notes for chores, and instead called or texted him with instructions. He rarely received house calls, though, as most of his chores had become ritualistic by this point.

Even though he was home alone 90% of the time, he and his friends usually found themselves in Ed's basement, concocting ideas for adventure like they did when they were younger. They no longer planned "get rich" schemes or schemes at all. They had evolved from that, and now instead planned trips to other counties, refurbishing automobiles from the junkyard, and discussing what they were going to do for their sophomore dance, as they didn't want it to be a huge failure like their freshman ball.

The thought if it sent chills down Edd's spine, both of embarrassment and regret. What had happened was Eddy somehow managed to convince him to remove his hat and _style_ his hair. The style was that of a fifties thug, and merited Edd many laughs that night. The main point of embarrassment was just showing his own head of hair off. It had always been a personal phobia of his, for no apparent reason. He really had nothing to be ashamed of, although he heard some rumors about himself having a deformity of sorts under his hat. He brushed off silly thoughts like that, and settled for just plain not going to this years' dance.

After a few moments of reflection, Marie decided it was time to head home. She had written in her diary many things, from the admittedly small cut she got from the metal belt to Edd staving off bullies in May's defense.

The ride home was short and uneventful. She arrived at an almost empty trailer with the smell of ramen in the air. Lee had dropped off May and went out to her place of work, Locorum_ Parvum Praedum. _She picked up the job over the summer and managed to stay employed to help their mother pay for utilities.

Marie was walking toward the pot of noodles, when she remembered to ask May what had happened.

"So why didn't you pull their hair out?" Marie asked bluntly.

"What?" stuttered May.

"The girls, the cheerleaders, you know! You should have laid some hurt on them; I know you can do it." Marie stated while taking her spot on the couch.

"I just…couldn't…" May drifted out.

Marie began to worry about the tone of her sister's voice. "What do you mean 'couldn't?" Marie asked calmly, genuinely curious.

"I'm not….I'm not _you _or…_Lee._ I don't like being mean, or violent. At first I just thought they were picking fun at me, then the tall one grabbed my hair and…" she began stuttering, before tearing up.

"May, you know we're not how we are because we like it, we have to be! To survive! Kankers gotta' stick together. I know you're not as hard as Lee, and don't expect you to be, but please, at least stick up for yourself." Marie said in a more than motherly tone, honestly surprised with the words she said. Did she really think of herself as mean? Did her _sister _actually think she was mean and tough? She never _wanted_ to be how she is, but after years of bullying at her old school, the chance to build up a new persona at Peach Creek would not pass her by. The brunt of this new person, of course, was her _dear Double Dee._

"I know it's just…I really want to be liked, by anyone." May finished.

Marie didn't know what to say at this point, and opted to just hug her sister instead. The sun was beginning to set, and end the first day of school.

Authors notes:

Sorry If this feels rushed, cause it was. I intended to add more to it, but alas, I have no time. I'll try to finish this area off with a more finite ending sometime this weekend hopefully.

I apologize for spelling mistakes.

Much love, unheardassin.


End file.
